“Hi Josh, Back on land again in Ushuaia after 20 mind blowing days of amazing wildlife, amazing scenery, amazing seas etc etc in the Falklands, South Georgia and Antarctica. Still having trouble processing all the things I have seen and done. My thanks to you for providing an unforgettable photographic experience, for all your assistance and companionship.” Garry Smith
Merry Christmas and Seasons Greetings
I just wanted to wish all of you who may have travelled and photographed with me either past, present or future, who follow my blog and photography or even just stumbled across my work somewhere, a very happy and safe Christmas and festive season. I hope Santa brings you some new photography toys and that you are fortunate to spend this festive time with close friends and family. Wishing you good health and happiness and all the very best for the festive season and New Year.
It is going to be a busy couple of weeks for me before I head back to Antarctica. I hope to finalise my 2015 What’s in Store Blog Post as well as finish the trip reports from South Georgia and Antarctica. I hope to also process and share some of the images I made during these expeditions. For now though, its time to celebrate Christmas with friends and family, say thanks for a wonderful 2014 and usher in the New Year. Roll on 2015.
Travel Photographer of the Year Winner 2014 – Wild and Vibrant Category
I have just returned home to Australia after spending the last two months in South Georgia Island, Patagonia and Antarctica. Two months photographing in these incredible wilderness areas was as always a fantastic experience that was wonderful to share with so many like-minded friends and participants. I will have photographs to share and a lot more to say about these expeditions over the coming weeks once I get a chance to catch up on email correspondence, jet lag and family Christmas celebrations. Celebrations have at least started a few days early as I was very excited to learn on docking back in Puerto Williams from Antarctica that I had just won the 2014 Travel Photographer of the Year award in the Wild and Vibrant category. I only learned I was even in the TPOTY Finals a few weeks earlier after I docked back in Ushuaia from my first expedition to South Georgia Island and Antarctica. In fact, it was a mad panic and rush to get the prints made remotely and submitted by the deadline for the final round of judging. I only had a few days between expeditions and had to engage a third party company to make the prints on my behalf. Had I the time I would have much preferred to make the prints myself but given my printer was more than several thousand miles away I had to settle for a high quality lab in the UK. Travel photographer of the Year is one of the few remaining competitions that still judge the printed image and it is a massive thrill and honour to have won the Single Shot Wild and Vibrant Category with one of my Polar Bear photographs from Svalbard in the Arctic.
The judges said “In a time of environmental change the polar bear has become a powerful symbol of man’s impact on our climate. The wildness of this image is evident but the image also conveys vibrancy, both in colour and in the sense of power and energy. The elegance of the setting contrasts with the gruesome natural way of life in this harsh environment of Svalbard while the two splashes of red connect death with survival.”
The winning photograph has subsequently been featured by the UK Daily Mail, National Geographic Itlay, The Guardian, The UK Telegraph, the German news website Spiegel Online and more. Winning Travel Photographer of the Year in the Wild and Vibrant Category has topped off for me what has been a truly incredible year in the competition arena. The standards in these competitions are incredibly high and it an immense honour to win the category.
I am very much looking forward to returning to the pack ice north of Svalbard later this year in search of more Polar Bears on two separate photographic expeditions – Wild Polar Bears and Kingdom of the Ice Bear. Due to a recent cancellation there is now a single place available on the Wild Polar Bears expedition. If you would like to take advantage of this opportunity to travel to the edge of the permanent pack ice and photograph Polar Bears just a few hundred miles south of the North Pole then just drop me an email for more information or to register your interest. You can also download a PDF information flyer from www.jholko.com
Spirit of Antarctica 2014 Complete – Heading Home
After nearly two months of solid photography in South Georgia Island, Antarctica and Patagonia I am finally headed home later today in time for Christmas with my family. The last two months has been nothing short of a phenomenal experience that was as always a sheer pleasure to share with so many like minded and passionate photographers.
I am currently in Puerto Williams in Chile having just docked a couple of hours ago after returning from my last Antarctica expedition of the year. We were fortunate to have a relatively mild Drake crossing on the return which was a pleasant and welcome surprise. Another pleasant surprise has been I just learnt that I have won the 2014 Travel Photographer of the Year Award for the Wild and Vibrant Category. The winning photograph was shot last year in Svalbard.
I admit to being pretty shattered at this point having existed on little sleep over this last two months. With so much exposure to the midnight sun so far south my body clock is a bit of a mess. The one benefit of this state of exhaustion is that I am likely to at least catch up on some sleep on the long haul flights home. I quite honestly have no idea when I will get a chance to process some of the photographs I have made during this time away as my time at home is very limited before I next head overseas. In the meantime, I am very much looking forward to walking in my front door, seeing my family and spending Christmas with my kids.
If you have been following along on my blog you will know that I will only be home for a two weeks before I will head back to South America and Antarctica for a scouting trip to photograph the mighty Emperor Penguins at the beginning of 2015. I am super excited about this new opportunity and am looking forward to heading deep into remote Antarctica where the Emperors make their home. The intention of this scouting trip is to spend a week camping and living on the sea ice with the Emperors in order to ensure everything is in place for a future small group photographic expedition in 2016. I will have more to say about this expedition soon. For now, if you are interested in a future expedition to visit, camp, photograph and live with Emperor Penguins you can drop me an email to express your interest – no obligation at this point.
Now, its time to head to the airport in Puerto Williams and start the long trek home. See you in Australia.
Departing on The Spirit of Antarctica Expedition 2014
My friend Antony Watson and I recently finished up ten days trekking and photography in the back country of Patagonia and have spent the last few days in Ushuaia at the bottom of South America. I admit, that at this point South America is starting to feel like my home away from home and that my Spanish is now about as good as my Icelandic! Later today we depart on our final Antarctica expedition for the year to the Antarctic Peninsula where we hope to encounter more amazing icebergs, landscapes and polar wildlife. We have a ship full of keen and passionate photographers all eager to get underway and get some polar frames in the can. The enthusiasm of a ship full of photographers about to embark on an Antarctic odyssey is a fantastic energy resource and one can’t help but get swept up in the excitement. 
As expected Patagonia was a mixed bag of weather and light (or should I say wind, wind and more wind!). The scenery of this amazing location is breathtaking – the precipitous peaks, the plunging mountains and wild terrain is really phenomenal. Hiking through this terrain really puts a perspective on the sheer scope and scale of the geological uplift. I have personally found Patagonia a challenging place to photograph in the past and this trip was no different. The scenery really needs just the right combination of weather and light to really create great images. I have seen a lot of photography from Patagonia over the years and those images that really stand out for me are those that have captured the most dramatic weather and light. Patagonia remains for me one of those places that is dramatic to behold but photographically elusive. I am sure I have some good images from Patagonia, but I am not sure I have any definitive ones as yet. I need to look at my photographs with fresh eyes in a couple of months to really get a feel for what I did or did not accomplish. I took a laid back approach to my photography in Patagonia and was happy in many instances to simply take it in and leave the cameras in the bag. I did very much enjoy our long days of hiking through Patagonia and was very appreciative of the light weight 5D MKIII loaned to me by my good friend Martyn. The thought of schlepping one of my Canon EOS 1DX’s up some of those mountains would have in all likelihood seen me choose to stay at the bar. In fact, it is worth noting that the hiking was fairly arduous and I am not ashamed to admit I arrived at our campsite several evenings tired and sore. Hiking the back country of Patagonia with good friends was one of those life experiences you never forget and the memories from this trip will I hope stay with me forever. I hope to write more about our experiences in Patagonia over the coming months as my thoughts congeal from both our hiking and photographic experiences. Until then, its time to turn my attention again to Antarctica.
We will be sailing down the Beagle Channel in a few hours and making our way across the Drake Passage bound for Antarctica. No two Antarctic expeditions are ever the same and I am looking forward to seeing what this one has in store for us. As always we will chase the weather and light for the best possible photography opportunities. Sleep will as always be kept to an absolute minimum as we search for spectacular midnight sun polar light. This will be my final post for the next two weeks before we dock back in Ushuaia. Bon Voyage.
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